jetjet

I used to work as a caregiver abroad for more than a year. The pay was good. Better than being a volunteer nurse here in our country. However, there would come a point in your career when you would feel at a lost despite your earnings as there's no professional growth in being a caregiver. After a year, I went back to the Philippines so that I could go home and practice my profession. I found career growth doing volunteer experience in different hospitals. Unfortunately the down side is that my pockets are always empty as my savings from working as a caregiver eventually went down the drain. So in the end, it all depends on you and what you prioritize. And no, you do not need to undergo further training to be able to work as a caregiver. In fact, you are more than qualified to be one.

hi yayey, my friend would be entering curtin but she's still awaiting the reply of her visa. are u going to curtin as well?

Hi javRN. Thank you so much for the very informative and inspiring message you sent. Actually, it was my friend Nina who wrote you as she would be entering Curtin next month already. She just used my account as she didn't have an account that time when she had questions regarding the conversion program. I gave her a copy of the message that you sent a few weeks back. In behalf of her, I'm saying thank you so much. People like you keep us going in forums like this. I'm also waiting for my NBV approval so that hoepfully, I get accepted to do a Bridging Program soon. Thank you very much. I replied here because I'm not so sure If I reached 15 posts already.

hi there! I'm nina and I'm a nurse from the Philippines. I just received my offer letter from Curtin Uni last week and I have until may 31 to enroll. However I'm still indecisive as of the moment because I've also applied at Murdoch and have not received a response from them yet. Between the two, the latter is a lot cheaper. For those who are knowledgeable on this matter, which is better, curtin or murdoch? also, do you have an idea what happens after conversion? do i need to go back to the philippines while awaiting for nmbwa to register me? how long does one need to wait to get registered? is it difficult to look for an employer afterwards? my worry is we'll be spending a big amount of money but what if in the end I still can not find an employer that would sponsor my working visa? somebody help me please...

Hi careforpeople, I am new here as well, as I've noticed, you've managed to get a provisional visa even before entering and registering with the South Australian Nursing board. That's great but Can you tell me how you did that? :clown:Ditto, I have family members in Adelaide who wishes to help and sponsor me to work and live in Australia as a nurse but we are by far befundled. As of the moment, I'm still stuck here in PI as am trying to finish my 1 year volunteer experience that they require/accept for you to enter the ARNTP bridging program (up to 28 week ata) or should worse come to worse, take the credit transfer for another BSN study [ may take up to 1year depending upon univ assesment] in the University of South Australia (as the ARNTP is undergoing reaccreditation as of the moment) and get a good IELTS result so that after finishing whichever course, I get to be registered with the board. Hope it only really takes an hour to do it... under this, I am under a student Visa that will expire about 2 months after the end of the course. Like Aj04, if luck is on my side, once registered, i wish to be employed and get a Temporary Business (Long Stay) - Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457) visa. Once I have it, I will then apply for a GSM Visa. If this will not happen, I'll brokenheartedly go back to the Philippines... huhuhu @Aj04: Can you tell me how long they processed your papers for the 457? Did you apply for it onshore? This is as far as my aim pathway goes. I don't know if it helped you in anyway but I do hope that it is a little helpful. BTW, I am open for other pathways, are there any more available? Can you also please tell me some other options? My problem is that, I cannot shop around different Australian states because the house where I'll supposedly stay is in Adelaide. Cheerio and hope to hear from you guys soon. :)

im planning to the learningext review too. ill be having my exams by the end of march. im starting to get anxious already. i did kaplan strategies and saunders as well. good luck to us and may we be guided....

hi aelith. so you're on an agency now? my aunt said she found a website that sort of sponsors and funds your education. it's not really the agency that funds it, but rather the hospital. i dont know how true it is because i haven't taken a look at it yet as i've been quite busy. also, we always have to be careful on such things especially if they sound too good to be true. what u said is so true. i ended up in another country, expecting a different turn of my life. but when i got up here, i guess the one up above had a different plan in mind for me. so what i had in mind didn't come as smooth as it was supposed to be... it's quite a tough one as i've been here for only 3 months but i think i've already adjusted and had come to accept the course of my life for the next year or so.... but my long term goal is to really become a nurse in Australia. i'm considering ACU, griffith uni and james cook uni but i dont know if i'll be able to afford it by 2010. haha... if you want, you can send me your email and the likes. i dont think i can send a PM yet coz i've just posted around 5 stuffs only and i believe i need to have around 15. i've just started my research regarding on how to become a registered nurse in australia. hopefully someday, WE ALL will be.

to aelith. ive been keeping up track with your posts from the very first page, and also in another australian forum where i also found your name. i must say, you're quite a nice young lady, offering us all the infos we need. i've been jotting down notes since then. i'm also planning to study in australia and like you, im out of the phil at the moment. im still weighing the pros and cons as i also have no work experience regarding "nursing" because i'm working in a different field right now. i must say, all your posts have kept me well informed and i just want to say my thanks for being so patient with everyone here. thanx aelith as for the many filipinos out there, persevere in your dreams and don't give up. there has been a huge influx of nurses and i know we're all in tight boats right now but one day, we might look back and say, "it was tough, but i made it."

Hi! You really seem so good but i think 20,000 is way way too much. When I graduated, my daily allowance was only 150 Php. I'm from Bacolod City, a small city like Cagayan de Oro so I think the cost of living would be quite alike. Food in cities like ours usually comes cheap. An average viand would cost me 30 Php + Rice which would cost 5-10Php + 10 Php soft drinks or a 15 Php iced tea. So an average lunch would cost me around 40-60 Php only. The same is true with dinner and breakfast. As I was living with my parents, it didn't cost me breakfast and dinner, only lunch and some snacks. If you can find an accommodation which is close to her school, that would save you her transportation expenses. There are dormitories and boarding houses that I'm sure are quite available even if she has to share rooms with other people, which I think is not too bad if she says she comes from a poor family. I have friends who are not really poor but doesn't mind sharing rooms with other people because as everyone knows, nursing is really an expensive course even here so one must make the most to cut expenses. Dormitories with free board and lodging would usually cost 5,000 Php and that would already include 2 meals a day. I have friends who rent a house for 8,000 - 10,000 Php per month. There would be around 5-6 of them toshare the house so it would be equally divided to them around 1,600-2000 Php. I've been to there rented apartment and I can say that it's really a nice place, a two-storey house with 2 separate bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It already has a kitchen and a laundry area. As for the other expenses like the uniforms, well, you only have to buy uniforms at the start of each school year, say June. But there would be instances where she would have to buy the Nightingale uniform, scrub suits, etc, which would already last her a year or 2 like mine did. It's not as if she has to regularly buy one. For the books, well, I wasn't a frequent visitor in the library. I usually buy my own books. The books I buy however are usually published here in the Philippines so doesn't really come expensive unlike the American editions of the books. The average cost of American edition books would be 3,000 Php up. My books usually range from 300 Php the least and 1,200 Php the most. Also, it's not regularly that you have to buy books like the uniform. 2-3 books per semester I think. I was able to have and collect more or less 10 books the moment I finished nursing. But I think it only cost me an average of 10,000 Php the least and 12,000 - 15,000 Php the most in all my 4 years of nursing. But I say, the library is still the best choice. Also, I graduated just recently. Average allowance of students like me are from 100 Php to 150 Php in cities like ours. As I've told you, my allowance is only 150 Php but I was still able to save some of it despite my expenses. I can usually have a savings of 1,000 Php at the end of the month. Projects usually do come up but I guess with a course like ours, the most you would be able to spend is only 500 Php as it's not really something technical like engineering where one has to buy expensive parts of computers, etc. Also, regarding the rich kid thing, like one of the previous replies here, well, you're there to study and not to hang out with the "rich kids." Hmmm. What else? 20,000 Php is even more than what an average call center agent receives here in our area. The average wage of call center agents here ranges from 10,000 - 12,000 Php. 20,000 Php is already like she's having her own job with a very good position. I hope this could help. It's not really nice being fooled around. So I think you better should take a look on all her on-goings because she might not be being completely honest with you. Happy New Year!

hi. when did you take your exams? this December 2007 only? well, all i can say is that it really is tough looking for a job:uhoh3:. i took my exams last june 2007 and our results were not out until late august. anyway, i tried applying for work. but it was really tough. there were suddenly a huge influx of unemployed nursing graduates during our time that most institutions would not already entertain you the moment word comes out from your mouth that you are a nursing graduate. most of my batch mates worked as call center agents and other unrelated jobs like in fast food restaurants... although some were lucky enough to have jobs in pharmaceutical companies. as for me, i tried applying as a tutor in Koreans but i didn't make it. so i changed my course and volunteered in the Phil. National Red Cross. However, I'm still a dependent living under my parent's roof. hehe. As for earning the extra income, well, i didn't get to earn anything but someday i know i'll earn my own money. hope this could give you an idea of what's life after the Board exam. I suggest why not give your time off after all that heavy work. Anyway, December NLE results just usually take a month to be released unlike the June NLE which took us almost 3 months of waiting. God bless.

hi there, i just recently graduated last March and took my NLE last june. eniwe, I need some help regarding to which state am i going to apply? my first choice is california but they say application there takes some time. my other choices are vermont and new mexico.... ive done some researching but still haven't made up my mind yet. hope you could help me out guyz.... another friend told me Nevada now is quite good... im a lil bit confused now as I practically dont have any relatives in the US. hope you could help me make up my mind... thank you so much...